Thousands of people arrange to meet in Valencia during the Fallas, a magical spectacle

Many cities spend the entire year getting ready for their special event, when they celebrate their patron saint and adorn their streets with colour. 

But no fiesta entails as much work and preparation for its inhabitants as the Valencia fallas which commemorate San José. During these intense festivities the most varied array of colourful sculptures are finally lost to fire and fireworks. 

They are held during the week of 15 March, when gigantic figures known as ninots take over the city. In addition to being highly ambitious constructions, these sculptures are true works of art, in which many creators invest their time throughout the year only to watch them be reduced to ashes. Their fate invokes a mixture of sorrow and euphoria in the onlooker watches the colossal creatures' final throes.

The fallas  festivity has been declared of International Tourist Interest. Although they are also celebrated in nearby towns, it is in the provincial capital of Valencia where they reach their heights of glory, becoming one of the most attractive Spanish fiestas. 

These are days in which humour, imagination and spectacle smile upon visitors in an impressive exhibition of colour and art, through the work and commitment of craftsmen, sculptors, painters and many other professionals who undertake to create the ninots. And also through the work of falla commissions, which throughout the year strive to obtain funds to keep this festivity alive and to construct its own ninot.

History

The origin of the fallas dates back to the beginning of the 18th century. One theory is that the carpenters at this time wanted to burn their parots, structures which were used to hang up oil lamps as they were no longer necessary in the spring. The Church, in an effort to fight against the paganism of this date, made it coincide with the eve of the festival of the patron saint of carpenters, St Joseph.

Gradually, this parot was dressed with clothes to look like a human being, and then to look like a certain person, at first a local character from the neighbourhood itself. And so the ninot was created and soon the locals started to create catafalques with monuments of various figures made out of cloth and wax which were later substituted by papier mâché in the 20th century. Currently more modern materials are used, such as polystyrene, which very malleable.

But the festivity is not just about craftwork and jubilation. The catafalques express a great variety of viewpoints on the issues or personalities. They are sometimes satirical and can sometimes touch raw nerves. So much so that the shadow of censorship has begun to fall over these festivities, something that the artists are not willing to accept. The fallas are normally several metres high, the most ambitious towering at 30 metres, and are comprised of papier mâché held in a wooden frame. Normally text in the Valencian language explains the significance of each scene.

'Mascletà' and 'cremà'

The starting shot is fired to announce La Cridà , when a representative of the Mayor's Office and the Falleras Mayores (festival queens) of the year invite the Valencian people to enjoy their fiestas from the top of the Serranos Towers. And from this time until 19 March the city of Valencia becomes a city of jubilation, although the mascletàs have been enjoyed since the beginning of the month.

This famous term refers to the firework displays with bangers and firecrackers, whose explosions create musical compositions in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento at two o'clock in the afternoon.

On the 18th, another very moving event is held with each falla commission depositing bouquets of flowers along the wall of the Basilica of the Virgen de los Desamparados, the patron saint of Valencia. The ceremony is accompanied by processions and bands of music with participants clad in traditional Valencian dress and heading towards the enormous reproduction of the saint which is placed in front of the basilica. The Falleras deposit flowers forming a multicoloured blanket for the Virgin. The last to make her offering is the Fallera Mayor (festival queen) of Valencia. 

And on 19 March the main events commence with the early start of the despertá. Midday is the time of the main mascletá - one of the greatest firework displays that can be seen and heard. Finally, at dusk, we have the cremá when all fallas are burnt except one. Votes are cast previously to choose the ninot to be saved and this piece is transferred to and preserved in the Museo Fallero. The others, almost 380 monuments, are burnt before the astounded eyes of Valencians and visitors during a magical and unforgettable night.